Recognized for Advancing Research Towards a Cure for Multiple Sclerosis

Waltham, Mass., November 8, 2011 -- The Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis (ACP), a national nonprofit organization, today announced that it was honored on November 7 with the third annual Global Leadership in Innovation and Collaboration Award (GLIC), presented by the Center for Innovation and Change Leadership (CICL) at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. The award is given each year to an organization that fosters and inspires innovation and collaboration.

Robert McBurney, chief executive officer of ACP, accepted the award. As part of the awards ceremony, McBurney shared ACP’s vision, collaborative practices, and innovative approach to catalyzing research towards a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS).

“The theme for this year’s award was about ‘innovation and collaboration that saves lives,’ and that is what the research efforts facilitated by Accelerated Cure Project for MS is all about,” said William J. O’Neill, Dean of Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. “ACP’s approach to bringing together and mobilizing research organizations and clinicians to speed the pace of MS research already underway, and to help find effective therapies, demonstrates the true innovation and collaboration that we seek.”

ACP is dedicated to curing MS by catalyzing research into its causes and mechanisms and has accelerated the pace of MS research by building a repository of high quality, well-characterized biological samples from MS subjects and controls. ACP makes samples in its repository readily available to scientists across multiple disciplines as long as they, in turn, share data and results with the collective database. To date, ACP has enrolled more than 2,800 participants in the repository through a network of 10 MS clinical centers. The samples provided by people with MS have supported more than 50 research studies, generated more than 15 million data points and contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of MS.

“The Global Leadership in Innovation & Collaboration Award reinforces the significant progress that can be achieved in medicine through collaboration and the adoption of best practices,” said McBurney. “Our mission at ACP is to serve as a catalyst for accelerating research toward a cure for MS by providing resources that both promote scientific collaboration and enable researchers to efficiently address the most critical challenges in studying MS, including access to good biospecimens and patient data.”

Each year since 2009, the CICL has given the GLIC award to one or two organizations that are global leaders in innovation and collaboration. Through the GLIC award, the CICL at Suffolk University honors companies that exemplify outstanding leadership in collaboration with other organizations around the world. These companies approach innovation and change collaboratively and inspire others with their distinctive leadership and best practices. The award is just one of several CICL initiatives to integrate best practices of innovation and collaboration within the research, teaching and service missions of CICL and Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School.

About Accelerated Cure Project for MS (ACP)

Accelerated Cure Project for MS (ACP) is a national nonprofit organization whose mission is to accelerate a cure of multiple sclerosis (MS) by rapidly advancing research that determines the causes and mechanisms of MS. ACP’s primary strategic initiative is the establishment of the Repository, a large-scale collection of highly-characterized biosamples available to scientists at any organization conducting research that contributes to our mission. All data generated through analysis of the Repository samples are contributed back to the ACP, resulting in an increasingly valuable and comprehensive information resource that can be analyzed to reveal new insights about MS. For more information about the ACP or to make a corporate or individual donation, visit http://www.acceleratedcure.org , or send an email to info@acceleratedcure.org.

About Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating disorder of the central nervous system that often results in severe disability, including the inability to walk, blindness, cognitive dysfunction, extreme fatigue and other serious symptoms. MS affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S. and two million individuals worldwide. The disorder occurs twice as often in women as in men. The cause is unknown and there is no known cure.

The Accelerated Cure Project for MS is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization whose mission is to accelerate efforts toward a cure for multiple sclerosis by rapidly advancing research that determines its causes and mechanisms.